


How to learn to love again

by Lahti111



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Depression, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gay Sex, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Mostly it is just referenced and implied though, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:22:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28059141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lahti111/pseuds/Lahti111
Summary: Daniel had never thought he'd want to return to countryside, but he was always better at running away from his problems than facing them, so an agonizing breakup and tedious job drive him to his grandpa's old farm in Pelican town. Can an artistic city-boy survive through all the new challenges and find more friends to replace those he can no longer trust?
Relationships: Abigail (Stardew Valley)/Original Character(s), Robin/Demetrius (Stardew Valley), Sebastian/Male Player (Stardew Valley), Sebastian/Player (Stardew Valley), side pairings - Relationship
Kudos: 9





	How to learn to love again

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone. I've been planning to write this story for a while and actually started a while back in Finnish, but the fandom seemed too unknown for the people who usually read my stuff, so I felt like maybe it would be better to post it here and change the writing language to English. So yes, the first chapter is pretty much a translation of the OG work, so I apologize if it flows a bit weirdly. It is just a bit of an introduction chapter and we'll get into the actual story next chapter :)
> 
> I'd appreciate the feedback and feel free to ask questions if there is something in the story that is puzzling you. 
> 
> Also, like said earlier, English is not my native tongue so I apologize any typos or grammatical errors that find their way to the chapters.

**1.**

Daniel leaned to a window, gazing the landscapes that flashed in front of his eyes as a bus was taking him towards a new beginning. He adjusted his earphones and tapped his fingers to the glass in the rhythm of the music. Green meadows, forests, a lake... city was far behind and there was no turning back. If anyone told him a year ago that he would end up back to the countryside he would have laughed and told them to check their head, but there he was, sitting on a rickety bus on his way to Pelican town. He still couldn't believe his grandpa had left his farm to him.

It was going to take another half an hour before the bus would reach Daniel's destination, so he spend that time looking in the mirror to see if anything about his hair or face needed to be fixed. He didn't think he was shallow, but he was about to move into a little town where everyone knew each other. He wanted to give the people a good first impression. He moved a blond tress of hair from his face and straightened the sleeves of his collared red shirt. The knees of the light jeans were torn and a small silver chain with a black feather hung from his neck. Both of his ears were full of piercings and three were above his left brow. There were several little markings all around his face – spots where he used have piercings. Then he went to work for Joja Co and they made him remove them, because they were against their ensemble standards.

Thankfully said company was now history for him and he didn't need to worry about being complained about something as trivial as the content of his wardrobe. Like choosing a shirt that didn't hide all of his tattoos as was requested by the management. He had been enough of a productive worker to be allowed some slips, which had upset a lot of his co-workers. It had been unbelievably liberating to tell both them and the supervisors to fuck off when he resigned from his job, as he had finally reached his limits in the most uneventful and toxic working environment he had ever experienced.

When the bus stopped and Daniel hopped off, there was someone waiting for him, a woman who introduced herself as Robin. She had long orange hair that was tied on a bun and she was wearing an orange jacket and green pants. “Mayor Lewis send me here to guide you to your new home”, she told with a smile as they shook hands. “He is there right now doing some cleaning so you can settle in.” Daniel nodded in response and they headed towards the farm.

It took about half an hour from the bus stop to the farm – so on a normal day twenty minutes or so. They were slowed down notably by the fact that Daniel had his two relatively heavy bags and he refused to let Robin help him to carry any of it. When they finally arrived, Daniel was about to collapse from the shock that awaited him at the farm.

“What's wrong?” Robin asked, but Daniel didn't reply. He had his attention fully on the mess that was supposed to be his new farm. There were several massive tree trunks scattered around – probably collapsed due to storms and weeds had taken over the little space that wasn't covered by rocks or trees. “I gotta admit that the farm has seen better days. No one has looked after the farm after your grandpa passed away, but there is good soil under all this growth. With little dedication you'll clean it up faster than you'd think”, Robin comforted.

Daniel shrugged. He knew no one had lived here in years, but the sight was still horrifying. His future apartment seemed alright at least, albeit very small. The roof looked sturdy enough, so he wouldn't need to worry about it collapsing on him. He could see a hole on the porch's floor, but it looked like something that would probably be easy to fix. Well, easy for a person who knew how to use a saw and a hammer – he wasn't sure if his own capabilities were gonna be any help with that.

While Daniel was studying his surroundings and trying to make some sort of a mental plan regarding where he should start cleaning the yard, the door to the house opened and an elderly man stepped outside. He was likely in his seventies and he had thick grey mustache. “Ah, if it isn't our new farmer. I am Lewis, the mayor of this town. People have been asking a lot about you – we rarely get new residents so people are eager to meet you.” Daniel couldn't help but to notice that the more Lewis talked, the tone in his voice changed, more and more uncertain by each passing word. The mayor must have had expectations of him that were not met for one reason or another.

Daniel was aware that his appearance was something that had always divided people. He was often said to look like he had never done any physical work in his life. There was some truth to it, since he had always been somewhat of an artistic soul. He had graduated from college that had a heavy focus on art and music. After that he had not devoted any time for more studies or getting a “decent job”, but focused heavily on his musical career. It had lasted a while, until year and a half ago he had joined Joja Co. His engagement had lead to a situation where he didn't want to be financially dependent of his spouse – now ex-spouse. Office work background was going to help him with keeping count on his finances, but that was just about it.

“Rude”, Lewis snapped and for a moment Daniel thought the old man was talking about him, since he was completely lost to his thought and had missed whatever Lewis and Robin had been talking about. However, the man was giving dirty glances to Robin. ”Don't listen to her, Daniel. She is the carpenter of our town so she is just trying to make you buy upgrades from her.”

Robin huffed at the accusations, crossing her arms. Daniel didn't know how the cabin looked from the inside, but there was a chance he'd need Robin's help in the future. If not with the cabin itself, with some animal housing at least. He had not decided yet which area to focus with his new farming life, but he had a feeling that caring for animals would be more his thing than growing crops.

“You must be tired from your long trip. I leave you be so you can settle in in peace. I recommend you to go to take a closer look of the town tomorrow and introduce yourself to everyone. Like I said earlier, everyone is very interested in meeting you”, Lewis insisted. Then he pointed a wooden box next to the house. “I almost forgot, but if there are any products you wish to sell, you can leave them in this box. They'll be collected every night and products will be taken to our local shops. They payment will be left to your mailbox. If you have any questions you want to ask, you can always come to visit me.”

“Sounds grand. I'll see you tomorrow”, Daniel promised. He waved for the duo who left his grounds together, still bickering.

Daniel walked the stairs to his porch and took another look to his land that mother nature had claimed back to herself during all these years. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and opened its camera and took a picture of the farm. He had promised to give his friends an update when he arrived here and he knew they'd have so much fun with the sight they were about to witness. He opened the group chat, ignoring the few new messages he had not read yet. He shared the photo to the entire chat to see and typed a quick message.

**D@n1€11:** _Finally at home. Not what I was expecting, but I am sure It'll be habitable eventually =p_

It didn't take even a minute before he got the first responses.

**BestBae** : _So glad to see you made it there in one piece. I demand regular updates on your project_

**69Peter69:** _What the hell!? I thought you were joking about moving to the countryside. :DDDDDDDDDDD_

**L0llip0p** : _I assume you don't have proper clothing stores there. If you need upgrades to your wardrobe, hit me up. My brand new collection is coming out during the summer ;)_

**SeSunTuhmaFantasia** : _Who wants to take a bet how long it takes before out golden boy gives up and returns to the civilization?_

Daniel rolled his eyes to his friends replies. He was already missing them all and he definitely needed to convince them to come and visit him at some point.

**D@n1e11:** _I had a long and tiring day, so I am going to bed. If you decide to tease me more, won't see it before morning. Love you all <3_

He set up his alarm to wake him up at six and shoved the phone back to his pocket. He would start clearing the yard first thing in the morning and in the evening he'd head to the town to get to know the residents. He just hoped they had a bar, because he knew already he would need some drinks to survive his new job.


End file.
